Extracting the Architect
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: Arthur must go into the new Architect's dreams to see if she can be trusted on the Fischer inception. A&A, with some Eames in for a tease.
1. Chapter 1

** Arthur must go into the new Architect's dreams to see if she can be trusted on the Fischer inception. **

Extracting the Architect

~ "She'll be back. I've never seen anyone pick it up that quickly before and when she comes back... when she comes back, your gonna have her building mazes." Cobb said. That same old confidence returning to the Extractor.

The Point Man was happy to see something like the friend he remembered returning. He didn't doubt that the new recruit would come back to them. The dream sharing experience was difficult to forget and, once exposed to it, was hard to let go of.

Cobb told Arthur about his plans to travel to Mombasa to visit Eames. The Extractor wanting to use a forger for the Fischer inception. The Point Man tried to warn Cobb about Cobol being entrenched there. That there were other thieves and forgers. More versatile dreamers then Eames.

"He's the best at what he does." Cobb said checking his pockets for his ID and travel papers. His face distracted from his recent bout with Mal. "He's worked in this kind of thing before."

"I still don't think Eames is the way to go." Arthur offered.

He had worked with the Forger many times before. Cobb was right, Eames was very good at what he did, but the Forger seemed to delight in aggravating the Point Man. He knew just how to push his buttons.

"While I'm gone, I want you to look into her." Cobb said. "When she comes back, I want you to go into her dreams and find out all you can about her."  
>"Recon? On Ariadne? What do you need to know?" Arthur asked.<p>

"Anything that might hint at her turning us in for some kind of reward." Cobb said smoothing back his hair. "We have to know if we can trust her. I want to know who she hangs out with, and how she spends her days." The Extractor looked up at the Point Man.

"Right." Arthur said nodding his head.

~ He had very little to go on for their potential Architect. She was a student at the college. Miles was one of her teachers and she lived in the city. Yet, it was enough. The Point Man was excellent at research and it was shocking what someone could find out over the internet about a person.

~ "There you are." Arthur said locating her social network profile. He smiled at the profile picture. Just a casual photo of her smiling. Nothing overtly glamorous or cleaver. She apparently wasn't into the craze of sharing online. She had only a smattering of friends on the network. Most of them from school or back in the states. A simple hack into her account told him her IP address and her interests. She wasn't very active on the net with the exception of school research and the occasional email from a school mate or old friend.

She bought most of her clothes online and all from the same store. Nothing with any kind of alarming price tag. She had the expected iTunes account and all her music was very general and popular. He was surprised to see the occasional cropping of classical music mixed with the Rolling Stones.

He delved into her bank accounts from there. He was surprised to find that she had so little money. Her tuition, room and board were all paid for on scholarship. She had a student job at the library that barely covered her other expenses. But she was never over drawn, had no outrageous bills for anything. She had only a single credit card that was paid on time and had a low balance. She didn't even have one of those tacky in-store credit cards.

In short, Ariadne was a normal girl who paid her bills on time, and lived within her means. She didn't owe money to any loan shark or had a shopping addiction.

That answered some things. But was not enough to secure his trust. What they were about to attempt was highly illegal and dangerous. He had to know for sure she could be trusted. He would have to go into her dreams.

The Point Man scowled over his computer as he looked for holes in her life. She had spent the past four years in Paris. She had no support checks coming in from any family. That was odd. She was a nice looking American girl. Surely, someone cared about her. Enough to send her a birthday check or... something. She had not family at all on the social network. No siblings, parents or even cousins. That was odd. Everyone had some family member on the network. Even if they were a distant cousin.

His instincts roused, Arthur looked deeper. He soon came across old newspaper articles and death certificates.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

~ Ariadne's life story did not make for light reading. Her parent's had a rocky marriage that ended with her father stabbing her mother to death in front of her. She was eight at the time. With her father in prison, she had been shuttled from foster homes till the age of 14. The records were sealed, but there were glaring hints of abuse in these homes. Before long, she had finally been allowed to stay in a group home till she graduated from high school.

Still, despite the hard legacy, she had blossomed. Her intelligence was not to be questioned. She was valedictorian of a class of over 1,000 and received full scholarships to several schools all over the world. The Point Man had to wonder why she chose Paris. A country so far from anything she would have know before.

Perhaps to separate herself from the madness of her old life.

~ It was late. The Point Man had stayed at the workshop all day researching her. Lost in the depth of what other people said and thought about her as a child and later, a young woman. It seemed like they were describing someone else entirely. Then again, that's was how social workers, case workers, child advocates and lawyers did things. They were divorced from the child who's life line they were. They only saw what others wanted them to see. Only reported on what others reported.

The front door rang. Arthur jumped out of his reading like he had been jerked out of a nightmare. He realized vaguely it was raining outside and the world had slipped into night without his noticing it. The font door buzzed angrily again.

With quick, graceful steps, Arthur skirted down the stairs to answer it.

~ He saw her back first. Her hair and red jacket soaking wet from the rain. She turned around and gave him an apologetic look.  
>"I almost left." She said. Her face was a bright pink from the rain and the cold. Her breath coming out in a white puffs.<p>

"Come on in, before you catch cold." He said reaching out for her. She only nodded and ducked safely inside.

~ "I'm afraid I only have oolong." Arthur said heating a small kettle in what could generously be called the kitchen of the work shop.

"Oh! No, that's fine. Thank you." She called back standing close to the archaic heater. She was trembling slightly as she breathed into her fingers.

"Here." Arthur said offering to take her soaking wet coat and offering her his own jacket. She looked at him reluctantly before peeling off the wet garment and substituting it with his. "What made you go out in this mess with no umbrella?" He asked teasingly as he carefully hung her jacket over a chair back. Wanting to preserve it's shape.

She was watching him as he treated her off brand jacket as if it were an expensive, on trend item. Something went off in her head at that. Something that told her the world didn't make men like this anymore.

"I didn't mean to." She offered lamely. Realizing her face felt warm. "You know how the weather is this time of year. It will be a perfect cloudless day out and then it's pouring rain and freezing."

He chuckled as the kettle began to whistle shrilly. She watched as he casually moved that long body of his to the kitchen to retrieve her tea. His form was dexterous and almost elegant. He never took awkward steps of seem uneasy in his own skin.

"Honey?" He called out.

"What?" She asked nervous that he had called her that name.  
>"Do you want honey in your tea?" He called back.<br>"Oh. Oh yes please." She said feeling herself blush. She had to laugh at that.

'_Guy probably has a girlfriend. Of course he does_.' She thought. He was too handsome, too put together. Of course he had some fashionable, beautiful woman dressing him and tending to him. Ariadne could just picture this mythical woman. Tall and blond with a body that filled out her clothes in all the right places.

She sighed as her nose picked up a rich and masculine cologne. She chanced a look at him in the kitchen before stealing a long luxurious smell of his coat. It was exactly the way everyman should smell. Clean and inviting. The kind of smell that would draw any woman in.

His coat was nice to. The fabric was rich and heavy with stitching highly skilled and clean. A name brand that had most likely been made just for him. She heard him coming back to her and acted nonchalant. She kept hands to her side and her body lost in the coat that was far too big for her.

"Here you go." He said gently handing her a cup of hot tea. "There is a little gourmet shop across the street." He told her as she chanced a sip at the scalding hot brew. Her fingers warming up from the contact of the mug. "I get tea and other things there. I hate supermarkets." He finished sitting across from her. Allowing her to stay close to the heater.

"Yeah." She said lamely as if she knew all about gourmet shops instead of bargain hunting at those big box store. The rich taste of the tea hit her tongue. "Oh, it's really good." She said half surprised.

For a long time they stood there awkwardly. Not saying a word.  
>"Arthur right?" She said finally finishing her hot drink and feeling warm enough to pull off his coat.<p>

"Yes." he said with a smile taking it back as well as her empty cup. "Cobb said you would be back." he added.

She shrugged.  
>"I was wandering around the city all day and couldn't get this whole thing out of my mind." She told him feeling suddenly tired. Her eyes wanting to droop as the warmth from the heater and the smell of his cologne was still embedded in her nose.<br>"Nothing quite like it." Arthur's voice reached her.

She only nodded feeling warm and happy. Like she could go to sleep standing up.  
>"Careful." Arthur was saying. She could feel his strong hands holding up her body although she couldn't see him.<p>

"Let's sit down." He said pulling her easily to a chair. She could feel the chair, the grain of the wood. She could hear the rain drone outside as her body felt heavy and her head was spinning.  
>"What... what's going on?" She asked stupidly as everything felt like it was happening to someone else.<p>

"It's alright." Arthur's voice came out of the darkness. She could feel him easing her into a sitting position.

Everything seemed very far away as she succumbed to the drugs in her tea.

~ Arthur sighed as he checked Ariadne's pulse. He didn't like to drug women like this, but the opportunity had been too perfect. He had to go into her dreams without her noticing and this would be the best time. Her experience in the dreams were still new and she would not easily recognize the dream world from reality.

Still, no matter how he justified it, he didn't like to by the kind of man who had to drug a poor girl's tea.

Quickly, he readied the PASIV machine and carefully hooked her up. His hands dwarfing her delicate wrists as he slip in the needle. He took a seat next to her and, with a timed dosage in five seconds, sent them into the dream.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

~ Subversive manipulation. It was Arthur's specialty. He had studied it in college and later he used it more and more in his dream work. What it was, was the simple implant of an idea. Unlike inception, the mind could trace it back to it's origins. The mind knew where it came from.

Yet, it always worked. A sentence as simple as: _Don't think about Elephants_, made a person picture elephants. Toy elephants, glass elephants, plastic elephants and pink elephants on parade. So it was a simple thing to test Ariadne's trust in the dream world.

The particular compound he used would make her subconscious more pronounced. It would also not allow her to remember the dream.

"_Don't tell anyone else about the dream world._" He whispered in her ear before fading away.

~ She looked confused as she took in her surroundings. Her mind heavy as if she had just woken up from a bad hangover. She looked around for the voice that was just in her ear, her mind finally sorted out where she was. A faint smell of inviting cologne came to her.

"Arthur?" She mumbled.

"Ma'am?" Came the voice of a man. She looked strait ahead and realized a police man, a detective, was staring at her worriedly.  
>"Yes?" She asked. She swallowed hard and felt her palms go sweaty. She hated police men. It was people like this who made her life a living hell for years. "What do you want?" She said more harshly. Her voice becoming confident. She knew her rights. She didn't have to say a word.<p>

"We were talking about Dom Cobb and his associates. These men engaged in some highly illegal activities and you were about to make a statement." He said.

She looked around and saw she was in an interrogation room of some kind. She had been in places like this before. A cold metal table between herself and some nameless social worker.

'_Tell, tell, tell. Tell us what happened. Just tell us what happened._' They were all the same.

Ariadne stared at the detective. He was young and handsome. A crew cut hair cut and inexpensive suit. He had eagle scout written all over him. She had seen dozens of people like him. Cops who took her dad away, a lawyer who said her foster parents were not beating her or starving her, the counselor at the group home who didn't keep his hands to himself and blamed her.  
>"I don't think I have anything to say to you." She said looking down her nose at him. She had long ago learned how to handle people like this.<p>

She had learned never to give anyone power. To treat them like they were less then human when they tried to get information out of you. Ariadne knew all their insidious tricks.

'_Tell, tell, tell. Tell us what we want to know._'

She knew that they lied to her. Told her anything to get information from her. This man would tell her Cobb and Arthur had sold her out and that if she wanted to save herself, she had to tell them everything. It was a ploy that worked and the detective was using it now. Telling her Arthur, the man who smelled so nice, were saying it was all her idea. Somehow, she doubted it. She doubted that man who walked so graceful, gave her nice tea and talked so calmly to her would do that. She also didn't think Cobb was stupid enough to get caught.

'_Tell, tell, tell. Tell us what happened. We know you saw everything. Just tell us what happened.'_

She steeled herself. Imagining her blood turning to ice. Imagined all those lying social workers had manifested themselves into this police detective.  
>"Are you finished?" She said sharply. Her tone rude and downright hateful.<p>

"Yeah, I'm done." the detective said dejectedly. "I'm just trying to help you." He said.

"People like you don't help." She said sadly. Allowing a chink to show in her armor. "I'm leaving." She said softly. She stood easily and, in the way of dreams, her world changed and morphed into something new.

~ Arthur watched the projections bait her. He watched in hidden vantage points that she didn't see as these projections offered her money and threatened her in order to get her to tell them about Cobb.

What was so strange was that they were her own projections. Feeding her ideas that she couldn't trust authority figures. These projections were middle aged women with cheap briefcases and ugly clothes. Harassed, balding men who told her she was a liar. Police men who said she would go back to the home if she didn't cooperate.

"Tell us Ariadne. Tell us what we want to know." One of the projections said.

Tears were forming in the Architect's eyes as they threatened her with another foster home. She thought her last one was bad? Just wait. But all that could be averted if she would just _tell_.

"Tell us about Cobb. Tell us about Arthur." They said.

The Point Man felt his heart break slightly at the sight of the pretty Architect. He had no idea what the details of her life had been. Only that her life had made her distrustful of people like this.

People were naturally leery of those in power, it was human nature. Yet, Ariadne seemed to have a real phobia about them.  
>'<em>What happened to you?<em>' He asked himself. He wanted to end it. Spare her this suffering. He was a gentleman and hated to see women upset. Especially someone like Ariadne. He knew only the rough edges of her history, nothing of these terrible monsters that lurked under the dark water.

"Tell us about Arthur." One man growled.

"No!" She screamed. "Leave me alone!"

Arthur was in control of the dream, he was the one who chose to change it.

~ Ariadne had no idea how she got to this strange world but she didn't question it. She felt the warmth of a body wrapping itself around her. Soft breathing over her skin. She was starting to relax as a she was vaguely aware someone was holding her.

"It's alright." Arthur was saying as he was laying her down in a bed made of soft pink fabric.  
>"Arthur?" She croaked as he was wiping away her tears.<p>

"Shhh. It's alright now." He said.

He allowed her to cry herself out. That fortress that protected her down for the moment. She slowed her breathing as he held her close to his body. Her crying ebbing out. She breathed in the smell of him. That rich clean smell that her nose had to search for.

"I know." He was saying. "They won't come back. I promise." He said running his hands over her hair.

In that easy way of dreams, she was kissing him. She couldn't explain why or how it had happened but her lips were over his and he felt good.

His hands were over her body. His strong fingers holding her moving over her as both their breathing picked up.

It felt right. It felt easy. Suddenly they were both naked and she was shocked at the things they were doing. Their bodies beautiful and uncovered as he explored her. She allowing his eyes and hands to delve all around her secret places as his lips made contact with her body, over and over again. She was smiling and never wanted him to stop.

~ Arthur felt his presence in the dream start to time out and he unwillingly woke up. His eyes opening up to the real world as the rain still pounded heavily outside. He looked at the sleeping Architect. Her breathing nice and heavy as her chest rose and fell in long, deep breaths.

She was still under, and more importantly, she could be trusted. He sighed in relief. He liked Ariadne. She had proven several times she was very brave and her intelligence and self reliance only made her more desirable to him. He wanted her to be trustworthy and was glad she didn't fail his little test. The subconscious never lies and hers had told him she wouldn't go to the police about their illegal activities.

The fact that their shared dream had turned sexual was not surprising. Dreams like that often reverted into such things. He was grateful the compound he had used on her would not allow her to remember any of it. Her actions were perfectly normal.

He had to blush deeply as he thought of them together like that. Of the easy way it was with her. A way it could never be in real life. In the dream, the mind was much more free.

With a simple modification of the PASIV device, he sent himself back into the dream. This time, she would teach her mazes and paradoxes. He had to rearrange her compound for that. She had to remember this dream.

~ He was in the dream when he heard her coughing. He turned and stood. Her appearance was unexplainable, she just appeared.

"Cobb said you'd be back." He said. This meeting echoing the real first meeting.

"I tried not to come but..." She offered.

"But there's nothing quite like it." He said finishing her sentence. A smug little smile on his face.

"It's just pure creation." She concluded.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

~ With any luck, she would wake up thinking that she had willingly gone into the dream. With any luck, she would have no memory of being drugged and that this had all been apart of the real world.

She asked intelligent questions about the compounds as he hooked her up. What did it do to the brain? How did it work? How long would it last? What were the side effects?

Arthur had to hide a smile as he answered each one. She asked the right things. Her curiosity ravenous and never satisfied. She was becoming more impressive to him every second.

~ She learned everything quickly. Much faster then he was expecting. Her sharp mind picking up his meaning and finishing his senescence's for him. It was easy to teach her.

"Why do you and Cobb do these jobs?" She asked finally after he showed her still more paradoxes. "For the money?"

"Hardly." Arthur said with a chuckle. The couple looked over the large, impossible gap of a staircase that ran upside down and confused projections. It was one of the myriad of paradoxes he had showed her.

"No, were doing this particular job so Cobb can get back to his children. There very young and, with his wife gone, he needs to go home to them." The Point Man explained and then wished he hadn't said a word.

"Why can't he go home?" She asked. Her big eyes showing a deep concern. Arthur shook his head.

"It's not my place to tell you that." He said looking away.

~ They awoke sometime later. Ariadne was slow to realize it was raining.

'_Had it been raining when I cam in?_' She thought. She remembered the sun had been out when she spotted Arthur working on the device and he took her into the dreams.

"What time is it?" She asked as Arthur was coming awake beside her. He glanced at his watch.  
>"Late." He said with a soft smile. "Let me call you a cab." He told her pulling on his coat.<p>

"Oh, no. I can walk home. It's not that far." She said feebly as a bolt of lighting cut across the sky and made the lights flicker.

"Nonsense." Arthur said stubbornly reaching for his cell phone.

Ariadne watched him stroll away from her as he placed a call for a taxi to take her home. She had to conceal a small smile and blush as she watched him. Something in her liked this idea of being taken care of. That he was the sort of man who took care of a girl. Never in her life had she been treated like that.

Her eyes landed on her red jacket. Stained with water from the rain.

_'Was I out in the rain?_' She thought. '_When was I in the rain?_' Her hair felt damp as well. That was when a smell hit her. It was on her clothing and her scarf. A man's cologne, subtle and expensive. She buried her nose in her own clothing and breathed deeply. Memories rushing back to her. She had been wearing his coat, after she came out of the rain. He gave her his coat and he brought her tea.

'_When had this happened?_' She thought smelling her own breath, the smell of rich oolong reaching her, a hint of honey as well.

Arthur came back into the room.  
>"Cab will be here in a little while." He said softly. "Can I get you anything?" He asked her.<p>

She stared at him for a long time. Her memories coming back to her in strange flashes that she couldn't put together.  
>"No." She said finally. "No, I'm fine."<p>

He had chivalrously seen her downstairs and held an umbrella for her as she got into her cab. The Point Man paying the cabbie in advance for her trip home. She turned around and caught his brief wave before the storm outside swallowed him whole.

~ It was good to be home. No matter how humble her little home was. She had a cramped but cozy little apartment that could barely be called an apartment. Yet it was hers and she didn't have to share it with strangers. She could decorate it like she wanted and fill it up with books she liked and she could even sleep all day.

She shook off the chill of the night air as she changed into warm sleep clothes. Her bedroom was in the same room as her kitchen and living room and it was an easy matter to heat a kettle and curl into bed. She suddenly wanted to sleep. To dream of Arthur. She could not explain it, something had happened. She distinctly remembered coming to meet him with the sun out. But also meeting him in the rain. He had given her tea. Given her his coat to wear so she would not be cold.

The Architect pulled her scarf free of her damp clothes and breathed deeply. The clean subtle cologne, making memories rush back to her.

She_ had been_ in the rain. He had given her his coat, made her tea and then... she talked to social workers. They told her she was going back to the home. That wasn't possible. She was an adult.

She strained her memory and found she was grasping at air. Trying to remember something that refused to resurface.

She remembered...

She sighed and let her thoughts relax as the whistle of the tea kettle screamed for her to attend to it. She let her tea seep and thought of the oolong tea he had given her. Perfectly sweetened with honey.

'_Had he given me tea?_' she tried to think. Her memories playing tricks on her.

~ "Cobb." Arthur said when the Extractor picked up the line. "We can trust her."

Cobb said very little as Arthur gave only a smattering of details. He didn't delve into deep waters about Ariadne's life. All Cobb needed to know what that they had their Architect.

"Eames and I will be down in the morning." Cobb was saying. "We have our Chemist."


	5. Chapter 5

5.

~ "_That's_ your Architect?" Eames exclaimed.

Arthur hissed at him to lower his voice.

"I've never worked with an Architect like _that_ before." The Forger said with a sly smile on his face. Arthur could not help put flash the image of a fox looking at a particularly pleasing hen.

Ariadne was out of ear short and working on a 3D model of a city. Cobb was standing over her shoulder and appraising her work. The Extractor seemed impressed.

"So, what's her deal?" Eames asked. His eyes raking over her body like she was his dinner.

"Her _deal_?" Arthur repeated. The Point Man not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Yeah. Is she dating anyone? She like boys or girls... or both?" Eames asked hopefully.

"Eames, I really don't know and that's not important." Arthur said with an exasperated sigh. How he hated to work with Mr. Eames.

"Trust me, it's important." Eames laughed. That same crafty smile flashing on his face.

"No it's not. Were here to work." The Point Man growled. "Your here for business, not pleasure."

"I can do both." Eames said sauntering away from the Point Man.

Arthur's first instinct was to take a swing at the Forger. His tacky vintage clothing, his over confidence, all of it annoyed him. Eames had moved away from him too quickly and all Arthur could do was watch in horror as Eames introduced himself to Ariadne.

~ "Hello." Came a voice as Cobb left her side. Ariadne turned to see the new Forger that Cobb had introduced her to that morning.  
>"Oh, hello. Eames, right?" She asked as he gave her a charming smile.<p>

"Right you are." The Forger said standing a little too close to the new Architect. "How are you liking the whole dream work?" He asked. "Finding everything alright?"

"Oh, yeah it's alright." She said awkwardly. She had to put her hand to her nose as her senses picked up the smell of the Forger's spicy musk. It was too heavy and invasive.

"Well, if you have any questions... any concerns... I don't want you to hesitate to find me. I've been working in this field for a long time and I can... help you out with anything you might need." The Forger said as his eyes raked over her body.

Ariadne instantly felt the bile rise in her throat. Eames was handsome enough but everything else about him was just wrong. He stood too close, his cologne and aftershave were too strong and his clothing... she couldn't even begin to describe.

She sensed right away what he was doing. She had men try and seduce her before. She didn't like to be pursued like this. As if she were some kind of helpless animal. She preferred to be treated well, not badgered and pestered.

She took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face.

"That's _very_ nice of you, Eames. But I'm really doing okay, an Arthur has been a big help." She said trying to sound confident and let him down easy.

"Oh Arthur is a bore." Eames said. "No imagination. Girl like you needs to be taught by someone who can think up new and exciting things." He purred as he moved in closer.

"I'm really alright." Ariadne had to laugh. "Oh, I need to talk to Cobb about something." She said covering her nose and escaping.

~ The Forger looked back at the Point Man in confusion.  
>"Alright, <em>clearly<em> she's into girls." Eames said somewhat put out at the Architect's rejection.

"I'm sure that's the _only_ explanation." Arthur grumbled. He had been pained at first in watching the scene between them but had to appreciate the Architect's rebuff of the Forger's advances.

"So what's her story? What is she into?" Eames asked.  
>"What do you mean?" Arthur asked watching Ariadne track down Cobb. His face a make of indifference as his eyes danced over her.<p>

"You performed dream extraction? You did research on her right?" Eames asked chewing on his nail.  
>"Of course." Arthur said wrinkling his nose at the filthy habit.<br>"And?"

"And what?"

"What dose she like? I mean is she into handsome, exciting, charming men? Or is she into old stick in the mud's like yourself?" Eames asked.

"I didn't find out what kind of guy she is looking for. Or if she is even looking." Arthur said looking back at the Architect.  
>"Well first of all, <em>all <em>women are looking. Second of all, you were in her dreams and didn't extract details about her personal life?" Eames asked.

"That wasn't the mission." Arthur said coldly.

"Well it's too late now." Eames said. "You have her address?" The Forger asked.  
>"Of course. Why?" Arthur asked as Eames threw on his coat.<p>

"Were going to check out her place. Everything you can ever want to know about a girl you can find out from her flat. That's science." Eames said. The fox like smile back on his face.

"Were not going to her home Eames." Arthur said. The Point Man folded his arms over his chest and kept his eyes on Ariadne. Appreciating her deep brown eyes and her pink cheeks as she spoke with Cobb and Yuseff.

"Never mind, I don't need you. Got her address right here." Eames said.

Arthur turned around sharply to see the Forger had lifted the Architect's wallet free from her purse and was looking over her ID.

"Put that back!" Arthur hissed looking over his shoulder.

"You coming with me?" Eames said tossing her wallet back into her bag.  
>"What exactly do you think your going to find out about her?" Arthur asked following the Forger out to the elevator.<p>

"Whether she is a moaner... or a screamer." Eames said playfully.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

~ "Not too shabby for a student." Eames said looking around Ariadne's little apartment. Arthur was quick to check the hallway in fear her neighbors might see them and become suspicious.

"Little cramped, but that's okay." The Forger added looking at the bed that ran against the wall and acted as a secondary seating to the living room.

"What exactly to do think your going to learn from poking around her place?" Arthur grumbled shutting her front door. He felt like a complete sneak, invading her privacy like this.

"Oh, you can tell a lot about a girl from what she keeps laying around. What she's into, what she's not. If she has anything that she has to take antibiotics for." He said casually.

"She doesn't _have_ anything like that." Arthur chastised. His face going hot at the very idea of Ariadne having to a STD.

"If I had a nickel for every girl I thought the same thing of. Go check the medicine cabinet." Eames said.

"I don't think so." Arthur said coldly. "You saw her place now lets go."

"Hang on." Eames said. "Took me a long time to pick her lock and we need to have a look around."

"No we really don't." Arthur barked.

"Teddy bear." Eames said pointing to her neatly made bed. A sour look on his face

"What? So what?" Arthur said looking at the well worn and much loved stuffed animal.

"Girls who have a teddy bear on their bed, that's not good. Their never going to let you do things to them. Never up for experimenting." Eames said sadly.

"Good." Arthur said.

"Yeah, also the dishes are all done and this place is too clean. Means she's going to be nagging me if I leave the toilet seat up." The Forger sighed.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Arthur asked desperately wanting to take a swing at him. He watched as Eames went into her chest of drawers.

"You notice how she has no pictures on the shelves or walls?" Eames said riffling through her clothes. "Not family pictures or even friends. Means she is either not close to her family or she has none. She's a loaner."

"She grew up in foster care." Arthur told him as he looked over her book case. It was a large collection of obviously second hand paper backs. Their spines broken and worn from over use.

"Jack Pot!" The Forger cried out.

"What?" Arthur said his head snapping up from her reading material.  
>"Lacy panties." Eames said holding up some frilly undergarments. "Women don't buy knickers like these unless they want someone to see them."<br>"Put those back!" Arthur hissed.

"Still have the tags on them." Eames said sadly. "That's good. It means she doesn't have a boyfriend but wants one. She wants someone to show these off for." The Forger said in a evil his.

"Eames." Arthur said in a warning tone.

"You don't think she's still a virgin do you?" The Forger questioned.  
>"<em>Eames!<em>" Arthur all but shouted.

Thoroughly reprimanded, the Forger let the lacy panties drop back into her drawer and shut it.

"What kind of books does she like to read?" He asked pretending to be interested.  
>"Mostly the classics." Arthur said thumbing through a book on mythology.<p>

"Neil Gaiman, that's good. Lots of Kate Morton and Sophie Kinsella. Alright, Jane Austen fan! That's my in." Eames said plucking out a battered edition of Austen's collected work.

"How is that your _in_?" Arthur questioned.

"Well, in case you didn't notice, I'm handsome, British and charming." Eames said with a smile. "American girls love me."

Arthur huffed.

"Never understood the attraction of Mr. Darcy though." The Forger said. "He's no fun at all, but I can be a Mr. Darcy if that's what she's into."

"Eames, just leave her alone." Arthur said snatching back her book and placing it carefully back on the shelf.

"Your more of a Darcy then I am." Eames conceded as he strolled to her tiny kitchen, looking through her cabinets.

"Rats." Eames said.  
>"What?" Arthur said picturing a large rodent scurrying around.<p>

"Nothing but healthy food. Fruit, low fat milk. Gross." Eames said. "But it's working for her, can't argue with a girl who treats her body right. I'll have to bring my own junk food when I stay over." Eames said. Slipping into her little bathroom.

"So... tell me why she grew up in foster care." the Forger said from the bathroom as Arthur looked over a copy of Emily Dickinson poems.

"Excellent." Eames said. "Daddy issues. I can work with that."

"Eames." Arthur said losing his composure.

"She had lots of feminine hygiene products. That's good, that means she's not really a man." The Forger said coming out of the bathroom.

"Eames!" Arthur almost shouted.

"Made that mistake before." Eames said sadly as he strolled out of her bathroom.

"I think we need to leave." The Point Man said placing her book back where he found it.

"Are you interested in her?" Eames asked bluntly.

"What?"

"You heard me. Were you planning on making a move?" Eames asked.

"We have to work with together. I think it's best we keep it professional." Arthur said in a calm, reserved tone.

"You will excuse me if I don't agree. So you won't mind if I make a move then." The Forger said. As they left her apartment. Arthur was fuming. He didn't want to admit to anyone, least of all Eames, that he like Ariadne. But he didn't like her falling prey to the Forger.

"No." Arthur said sadly as they left her building and hailed a cab back to the work shop. "No, I'm not interested in her."

"Good." Eames said

"Maybe you should wait till after the job before you try to embark on a relationship." Arthur offered.

"Who said anything about a relationship?" The Forger chuckled. "I want to bed her, not wed her."

It took a great deal of resolve not to beat Eames to the ground as they rode him. Arthur didn't know what upset him more. The behavior of the Forger, or the fact he learned more about Ariadne in 10 minutes of looking through her apartment then the Point Man did in intensive research and dream extraction.


	7. Chapter 7

7.

~ Ariadne had come home from yet another chilly evening. She had refused the cab Arthur had offered to get her. He had talked about going out for dinner, that there was an amazing restaurant not far from here. She had to say no. Her bank account was looking awful. She had scaled back her hours at the student library to work with Cobb and the others. The Extractor had said something about her 'share' but she hadn't paid much attention. She wasn't doing any of this for the money.

The Architect kicked of her shoes and pulled the contents of her pockets out on her kitchen counter. There was a well packaged envelope of oolong tea there. She had stolen it from the little kitchen at the work shop. It had been in a fancy tin with elephants on it.

It was such a childish thing to do, but she had to know. She was almost certain Arthur had given her this tea. That he had talked about a gourmet grocery store and had giver her his coat because she was cold and wet.

'_Because it had been raining when I came in._' She thought.

With her small, clever fingers, she opened the envelope up and took a deep breath. Memories came flooding back to her. She was standing in front of a heater. Arthur had giver her the mug and it felt good on her cold hands. It had been sweetened with honey and at first she thought he called her honey.

Then, she had been sleepy and Arthur helped her to a chair. Then police men and social workers were talking to her. Then... she thought the feeling of being in pink bedding came fluttering through her mind. She was laying in a bed of pink sheets and Arthur was holding her. Letting her cry. Then she was kissing him and he was kissing her. They were making love.

Ariadne blinked and the images in her mind were gone.

'_No, that couldn't be real._' She thought. But they had been so sharp, so sudden and intense. She felt sure she hadn't made them up.

The chill in the air made her want to heat the kettle and drink the tea she had stolen from the work shop. It tasted just as good as she remembered. Sweetened with honey and delightful.

'_I did drink this tea before._' She thought. '_I know I did._'

She went to sleep and dreamed of Arthur.

~ "Eames?" Cobb said in the simple way of the Extractor.

"Yes, Cobb?" Eames said as Ariadne was showing the Point Man her plans for the hotel. The rest of the team staying well away from them. It was best if only the dreamer knew the layout of the maze.

"Arthur seems to think your putting the moves on our new Architect." Cobb said casually. His body language giving nothing away.

"Why would he think that?" Eames said with that fox like smile back on his lips.

"Because he knows you." The Extractor said with a grin. "All the little things you have been doing to embarrass him in front of her, kicking his chair." Cobb said as an example.

"Fair enough." Eames said. "I suppose your going to tell be not to break her heart and all that. Not till after the mission, right?"

"Something like that." Cobb said folding his arms over his chest.

"Relax." The Forger said with a grin. "I've no interest in Ariadne. This is what's called a long con."

"And what is that?" Cobb asked. His expression only mildly amused.

"It's my way of having a little fun with Arthur and at the same time, getting him to take what he wants." The Forger explained.

Cobb looked at Ariadne carefully going over the details of the hotel she had worked so hard on.

"Arthur and Ariadne?" Cobb asked in surprise.  
>"What? You don't see it?" Eames snorted a laugh.<p>

"No, I guess I didn't." Cobb said looking at the way Arthur was nodding and casting quick appreciative glaces at the Architect.

~ "We can go under after lunch." Arthur said walking into the little kitchen. "I think Eames has been looking into a good time to do the inception." Arthur said.

"Do you really think it could work?" Ariadne asked.  
>"Cobb seems to think so." Arthur said heating the kettle.<p>

"Do _you_ think so?" Ariadne asked. Her big eyes making his heart flutter.

"Doesn't matter what I think." Arthur said. His voice serious and professional.  
>Ariadne looked at the kettle starting up.<p>

"I've got camomile and raspberry." Arthur said politely changing the subject as he looked over elegant little tins from a well to do shop.

"You know I'd really love some more of the oolong you gave me that night it was raining, if you still have it." She said casually.

"Actually I think I still have some..." Arthur's voice trialed off. He looked at Ariadne as his mind caught up to what she had just said. "Except you just asked about the oolong didn't you?" He said. The knowledge that she knew coming over him like a cold wave.

"Yes, like the one you drugged me with." She said in a whisper.


	8. Chapter 8

8.

~ It was an awkward few seconds that the pair of them stood there. Saying nothing with words, but their eyes spoke volumes.

"Why don't we go for an early lunch?" Arthur asked finally.

~ The tiny restaurant was every bit as wonderful as Arthur had said it would be. Yet, Ariadne was not detoured by the light and flaky pastries and perfectly blended coffee.

"Do you drug a lot of helpless women?" She asked once they had been fed and watered.

"No." Arthur said sharply. His head snapping up from his coffee. He sighed and looked out at the street. It's fashionable people hastily walking. "No, Cobb had to be sure you could be trusted." He admitted. "The surest way to do that is in dreams. Your subconscious's defense's are lowered and your mind always tells the truth."

"Why didn't you just _tell_ me?" She asked. "Why the subterfuge?"

"Because if you knew you were dreaming, your subconscious would try and defend itself." Arthur told her giving her an apologetic look. "Wouldn't have worked."

"Do you do this to all new Team members?" She asked. That ravenous curiosity coming back.

"Yes." Arthur said truthfully. "It's easier, when it's a new dreamer. One who is not experienced and can't figure out their dreaming. It's harder on someone like Yuseff or Eames."  
>"You did an extraction on Yuseff?" She asked. He nodded.<p>

"Cobb and Eames did. Before they came on board." Arthur said. "Saito to, although he doesn't remember it. Cobb had to be sure he could do what he said he could."

He looked at her as she absorbed the new information.

"How did you remember?" He asked finally. His hands going to his coffee cup. Avoiding her eyes.

She sighed.

"The sense of smell is the closest link to memory." She said rubbing the back of her neck again. The Point Man scowled that. "I remembered the smell of the tea, of your cologne." She admitted as her hand worked her neck muscles.

"I see." The Point Man said sadly.  
>"You might want to work on that in the future." She told him with a smile. He nodded and gave her a half smile. Arthur was not used to smiling. It felt strange to be so comfortable around a Team member.<p>

She looked for a moment like she wanted to say something else. But she only blushed and sipped on her coffee.

"Are you angry? Now that you know the truth?" He asked.

"Yes." She said. "But I understand why you did it." She gave a little shrug. "Besides, it's not like you went through my underwear drawer." She said with a laugh.

Arthur felt his cheeks flush in surprise. She was so infuriatingly cleaver, who was to say she hadn't figured out he and Eames had gotten into her apartment?

"But I will get one of those cakes." She said teasingly. "Since your buying." She added.

Arthur chuckled. A strange thing for him to do suddenly. He waved at the waiter to bring her the desert cart.

~ "So what was Eames' subconscious like?" She asked as the pair wander though the modern hotel she had designed for him to dream.

"Filthy." Arthur said honestly. "Nothing for a lady to hear about." he said gently.

She laughed and they enjoyed another round of abusing the Forger. She looked like she hadn't slept properly in days and was rubbing the back of her neck again.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Hmm? Oh I'm fine, just been a long few days." She told him.

"You should knock off early. Get some rest." He said.

"I'm worried about Cobb." She said at last.

"Why?" He asked. His voice wooden as he kept his eyes on the floor.

"I keep seeing him go under alone. Most of the time, Yuseff is watching over him. But he's always going under alone. I wonder what he's dreaming of." She told him as the came into the lobby. The Extractor, Tourist, Forger and Chemist were waiting for them.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Arthur said stiffly. "Best to leave it alone."

Arthur knew all too well what, or who, Cobb was dreaming of with Yuseff's little compound.

~ The Extractor was impressed with Ariadne's designs. He praised her openly before the group, something he never did. Arthur gave her knowing nod as she lazily rolled her eyes.

~ "I still can't believe Saito _bought_ an airline. I guess people with money and power really _can_ buy anything." Ariadne said as the cab took her home.

"I guess so." Arthur mused as he watched the lights come on over her neighborhood.

Finally, they reached building.  
>"So this is where you live?" Arthur asked trying to sound innocent as she unlocked the front alcove of her building.<br>She said nothing as she retrieved her mail from her box and leafed carelessly through it.

"Well." Arthur said feeling awkward and knowing the cab was waiting for him. "I'll be here early to pick you up for the flight to Australia."

"You don't want to stay over?" She asked. Her tone was indifferent and almost hateful. She looked up at him as his mind tried to process what she had just asked.  
>The Architect only shrugged. Her big eyes looking haughty and knowing.<p>

"Or, do you prefer to make love to girls only in dreams?" She asked.


	9. Chapter 9

9.

~ "I'm guessing you didn't do_ that_ with Mr. Eames or Saito." She said when he didn't speak for a long time.  
>"Ariadne." he said. His tongue finally loosening. "That, um." He shook his head. "I didn't take advantage of you."<p>

"Really." She said. Her voice flat and condescending.  
>"No I didn't. It happens with new dreamers a lot. Especially with people their attracted to." He said not meeting her eyes. "Sometimes, you just have sex dreams."<p>

"I've never had a _shared_ sex dream." She said. Her hand going to the back of her neck again.

"You were a willing part of it." Arthur fumbled. His only defense.  
>"Excuse me?" She snapped. Her beautiful face suddenly looking hurt. He instantly regretted what he had just said.<p>

"I can over look the fact that you drugged me for information. I understand you need to know if you could trust me. It should have ended there." She said. "Don't tell me you didn't take advantage." She hissed as her eyes filled with tears.

He stood before her. His hands going to his pockets as he looked thoroughly ashamed of himself. Had what he done been akin to some kind of assault?

"Tell Cobb or someone else to pick me up in the morning. Not you. Think of a reason why you can't do it." She said finally. Her voice uncharacteristically harsh.

"Alright." He whispered wanting this night to be over, but wanting her to yell or scream at him. Knowing he deserved it. Wanting her to exercise her anger over his betrayal so they could move past it.

"Now that I'm on the mission, I don't want you to talk to me unless you have to. When all this is over, I never want to see you again." She said her voice trembling. Real hurt behind it.

"Alright." He said as he watched her turn and climb upstairs to her apartment. He heard a door slam somewhere and knew she was inside her apartment. The gentleman in him refusing to leave until he knew she was safely home for the night.

He turned back to his cab and wished she had just hit him. Anything was better then this.

~ In her tiny little apartment, Ariadne climbed fully clothed into her bed. Her arms going around her bear, Mr. Knightly. She hated being mad at Arthur. It felt like a sickly knot was in her belly and all the air had been pulled out of her lungs. She nuzzled Mr. Knightly like she did when she was a little girl and a kindly social worker had given him to her. He had smelled so good and she had loved him more then any other possession.

In a way, she was not sure why she was mad at Arthur. Her memories of their intimate acts were scattered but she was certain she had been willing. But the fact she had been drugged and taken into the dream without her knowledge, made the whole thing seem vile.

All she knew was, for now, she wanted to be mad at Arthur.

~ Eames was at her door, bright and early the next morning.

"Hello, Darling." He said giving her a fox like grin. Ariadne had pulled back with a natural repulsion as the smell of his musk hit her.

'_What did her do, take a bath in it?_' She thought as she longed to smell Arthur's clean, inviting cologne.

"I really thought Arthur was going to be escorting you to the airport." The Forger said laying an arm across her shoulders as they walked to the cab. She shrugged him off as she hoped that horrid musk wouldn't stick to her clothes.

~ She met Cobb and the rest of the Team on a privet plane that would take them to Australia. Arthur's face looked angry as he watched her with Eames. She didn't say a word to the Point Man and never looked at him.

"Were going to spend the majority of our time in the air today. We have to fly to Australia and then the flight from Sydney to California." Cobb told her as she looked around the handsome privet plane. She had never flown in such a luxurious plane before. It looked more like a living room then a plane.

Ariadne chose a seat with a generous view of the tarmac. She had never had a window seat before either. It was like a fairy tale as an attendant asked her if she wanted something to drink.

She looked at the men in her company. They were all dressed so well. She had no idea they would show up looking so refined and elegant. She looked out of place among them in her every day clothes. Cobb suit alone had to have cost more then her rent for three months.

She noticed Arthur looking painfully handsome.

It was heaven until Eames saddled in to sit next to her. His rough body too close to hers. His leg rubbing up against her. His musk seeping into her pours as the plane took off.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" He finally asked.

"Yes." She lied. She looked around the cabin. Yuseff was reading a magazine. The PASIV device in the free seat next to him. Cobb and Saito were seated in a more privet section of the plane talking. Only Arthur had an empty seat. The Point Man looking out the window and ignoring everyone else on the plane.

"Really? Never heard you talk about him. He's mad you spend so much time with us and not with him?" The Forger asked prying into her hastily fabricated story.

"Um. No he's not." Ariadne said as she looked to the seat belt fastening sign. The Forger's hand mysteriously on her leg. Inching up her thigh. His fingers strong and purposeful.

Finally, a light flashed green and she was quickly unfastening her seat belt and on her feet. Her carry on bag in her hand as she was scurrying over the Forgers legs, and across the cabin. Her stride unsteady as the plane was leveling out.

"Um." She said awkwardly to Arthur as the Point Man realized she was standing in front of him. "Can I sit with you?" She asked. Between the Point Man and the Forger, she would take the Point Man.

"Sure." Arthur said. His face had been a deep, angry scowl until she was appeared before him.

"Can I have the window seat?" She asked hopefully. Arthur tried hard not to smile.

"Of course." He said as he tried to maneuver into the aisle seat at the same time she tried to gain access to the window seat. His hands inadvertently going to her hips as he tried to keep her steady when the small plane hit a bout of turbulence.

She didn't seem to mind, breathing a contented sigh as she settled herself back in the comfy leather chair.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Your welcome." the Point Man said congenially.

Arthur had to force away the smile on his face. He could smell Eames' horrid musk on her clothing.

'_He must take a shower in that stuff_.' He thought. His thoughts angry at the Forger for soiling her pleasing natural smell. As if sensing his thoughts, Ariadne shed her red jacket and pulled free a small white one from her back. Stuffing the offending smelling garment back into her bag and then stashing it under her chair.

Much improved, Arthur could breath in the comforting smells of her laundry soap and faint perfume. Even her shampoo. That natural womanly smell all men find intoxicating.

He breathed deeply and cast an irritated look at Eames. The Forger giving the Point Man that evil fox grin of his along with a thumbs up.

"This doesn't change anything." Ariadne whispered after a while.

Arthur only nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

10.

~ It was a long trip from France to Australia. One in which she embarrassingly fell asleep during. Her eyes and mind betraying her as they cried out for rest. Arthur kept still and quite as she slept for hours in the comfy leather chairs. His body seeming to protect her and provide a buffer from the others on the Team. The white noise of the plane soothing her to sleep.

It wasn't until the plane was preparing to land that he gently rubbed her arm. His invasion into her dreams unwelcome.

"Were about to land." he whispered to her. She opened her eyes to find she had dozed off sometime in the air.

She sat up and tried to smooth out her clothing. Her hair must look a fright. She felt she had been sleeping deeply and the thought that Arthur might have drugged her again and went into her dreams, briefly came to her mind.

'_No, I didn't eat or drink anything_.' Ariadne thought at the Point Man gently reminded her to fasten her seat belt. Still, she could never be sure about her dreams now.

She could never trust him again.

~ The airport was busy and it was easy to "lose" the Team as she had been instructed to do. To arrive at different times, so it would seem that none of them knew each other. Ariadne was already in her seat when she felt Arthur arrive. Her cheeks pinking as she wished for the hundredth time she had dressed more refined. She really didn't have anything as nice as what these gentleman wore and she looked so different from them just now. Still, perhaps that was for the best. She would not be counted as one of them if they were caught.

She tried to read her book as Cobb subversively placed the sleeping drug in Fischer's water. Soon enough, the young heir was unconscious.

Arthur was on his feet. His movements so fast and silent, she almost didn't see him. He didn't look at her as he readied the device. Handing out a line to each of the Team members before pulling one for her and for himself free. She rolled up her sleeve as she readied herself for the band and needle.

It never hurt but she had to learn though trial and error how to do it. Arthur made to put her bracelet on himself, but she sheepishly took the line from him. She mouthed a 'thank you' before quickly snapping on her bracelet. Feeling the Point Man hurriedly going back to his seat.

Too quickly, the attendant was before them. Checking their faces, making sure they were ready.

Everyone nodded and Ariadne soon felt the sense of her mind fogging over and falling head first into the dream.

~ '_Is it raining?_' She thought and she wondered if she was in the right place. She looked around the city that seemed so different from the one she had built. She hated the rain. Almost every time something bad happened to her, it was raining.

She ducked into a shop and waited for the red car Cobb would pick her up in.

~ Arthur was annoyed. The rain was the first glitch in the plan. A plan that was fraught with all kinds of complications already. He had tried to talk Cobb out of bringing Ariadne on the mission with them. She wasn't experienced in the dreams about would prove a liability like the tourist.

The Point Man spotted Robert Fisher on the curb. The young heir waving him down. Arthur slowed the cab and let him into the trap. Saito anxiously awaited Eames to sprint to the cab and jump in. The Tourist seemed to be enjoying the mission.

~ Gun fire. Arthur knew they were in trouble before the guns even came out. The sight of the trucks cutting him off caused the hair on the back of his neck to rise like the hackles on a dog.

Suddenly, his world became a blur of hot gun fire and Eames shouting. Acting on instinct, and trusting he would wake up if he was shot, Arthur fired back and tried to maneuvered the cab away.

'_Where the hell is Cobb?_' Arthur thought. '_Where is he?'_

The Extractor should have been providing back up. Keeping the projections away from the Mark. They were hopelessly pinned down as the cab became target practice for the projections.

For the first time on the mission, he was glad Eames was there. The Forger was many things but he was never incompetent on a job. Eames seemed to read Arthur's mind and was ready with return fire as the Point Man backed the cab out. Heartlessly running over a projection with a grim satisfaction.

Even Saito was useful. Never hesitating to return fire through all the bullets firing. Arthur used the fear the dream gave him to act. Slamming the cab and bucking free the cars before him and behind. He drove the cab into an impressive spin away from the trap and fled.

"_I'm okay_.' Arthur thought looking over his body for blood. Knowing the adrenaline he was feeling would not tell him if he felt pain.

"You alright?" he barked at Eames.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay." Eames came back. His voice sounding slightly stunned over what they had just survived. "Fischer's okay. Unless he get's car sick." The Forger joked patting the young man trembling in the corner of the back seat. The cloth bag still on his head.

"Saito?" Arthur turned at the tourist next to him. The Point Man was feeling calmer now.

'_Maybe were going to be alright._' He thought.

The older man was slouched down in his seat. Something Saito never did. His suit getting wrinkled and the fine Japanese business man looking almost slovenly. Arthur watched in horror as Saito pulled free the hand at his chest, covered in blood.


	11. Chapter 11

11.

~ Cobb and Ariadne watched in fascinated horror; the train barreling through the streets with not tracks. It's heavy wheels decimating the asphalt and pushing aside cars like they were toys.

The sheer power with which the train hit, had stunned them all. Cobb breathing hard like a wounded animal as he watched it's unstoppable drive.

"This wasn't in the design." She told him. She didn't want him to think she had been stupid enough to put a train crossing in a heavily trafficked downtown intersection.

The Extractor didn't answer. Didn't respond. Just kept watching the train.

"Cobb?" She asked when he didn't acknowledge her. "_Cobb?_" She said more forcefully. The Extractor seemed to break free of the spell the train held on him and acted. His driving skills quick and reckless. He drove on the wrong side of the street and mounted a curb to get to the cab.

~ She saw through the rain that the yellow cab had been pinned down and projections were firing at it.

'_Arthur is in there._' She thought as Cobb let the car he was driving go into a spin that knocked a projection down as it bumped free a pick up truck that was keeping the cab blocked and trap.

Ariadne turned around as Cobb sped away. Arthur's cab had broken free of the trap and was quickly following them thought the wet streets.

'_Oh God, is he okay?_' She thought. She knew the Point Man was in the driver's seat. The more logical part of her mind telling her he was fine. That he was driving the cab and was behind them as Cobb drove to the safe house.

She was glad to see Eames jump nimbly out of the cab and open the door for them to drive through. At least he was alright.

Soon her world became a maze of Saito being hurt and the image of that yellow cab riddled with bullets. Arthur asking about why she put a train crossing there. Her quick denial of being responsible.

Cobb yelling. His face a rage like she had never seen before. She felt her heart leap up into her throat as the men she had thought so much of, turned into something else. Arthur staying calm but defensive, as Cobb became flurry of rage she had never believed possible of the polite widower.

Then Eames was wanting to shoot Saito in the head. A horrible act of violence unfolding right in front of her even though it was only a dream.

Ariadne was feeling numb from the cold, the rain and everything happening too fast. Cobb was saying something about limbo.

All her memories of the religious nut of a foster mother, her frightful talk of heaven and hell and limbo, came flooding back to her.

"Limbo?" She croaked out. The feeling she would float in a void forever with all the unbaptized babies springing to her mind.

Arthur was still calm. His voice steady as he explained it was only another dream level.

"Well, what the hell is down there?" She asked still feeling panicked.

_Nothing. Nothing is down there. _

~ More shouting. This time, it was Arthur's turn to yell and Cobb to remain calm. The Point Man bringing up Mal and causing Cobb to look away, half ashamed.

Ariadne cast Cobb a worried look as the Extractor told them how they had to go another level deeper or they would be killed. Arthur's face looked angry like he was ready to attack Cobb.

~ She was washing her hands in the little bathroom when he found her. She hand bandaged Saito's wound the best she could and was washing the blood off. Trying to hold back the tears.

Everything had gone so wrong and she wished she had never come on this mission with them. The dreams were always so safe when they were in the work shop.

"Are you alright?" Arthur asked, closing the door behind him so they were alone. She nodded and didn't turn around.

"I hate the rain." She said sadly.

"Were going to be alight." He said softly.

"You don't know that." She responded. Her tone dead as she shut off the water.

"Yes I do. We've been through much worse." He said as she turned around and face him. "Stay away from the windows." He added looking over the high windows of the safe house.

She nodded and said nothing as they just stood there.

"How bad is it?" She asked. "I mean, if were killed?"

"I don't know." He said. "Just... just stay close to me when were in the second level." He whispered coming closer to her.

"Arthur, I was so worried." She confessed in a breathless whisper. Feeling the tears form in her eyes. "I saw the cab, all the guns going off. They were shooting at you." She felt ashamed to find herself crying.

He was pulling her close to him. Gently hushing her as she cried into his chest. Her nose picking up that comforting smell of his cologne. Telling her he was real, whole and safe.

"I'm fine." He whispered holding her close. "I'll be fine. Were all going to be alright. I swear it." He said rubbing her back. Comforting her like she were a child. His hands felt perfect and protective around her.

Finally, she stopped crying. The Point Man allowing her to pull free of him.  
>"I'm so sorry." She said embarrassed for how she had just fallen apart like that. He was smiling. Despite all the stress, he was amused by her.<p>

"For what?" he asked brushing back her hair.

"For everything. For how I treated you last night. I'm really sorry." She confessed.  
>"I'm the one who needs to be sorry." He said.<p>

They suddenly heard Cobb's voice looking for them.

"Remember what I said." Arthur told her gently. Looking her in the eyes. "Stay away from the windows and stay close to me on the second level."


	12. Chapter 12

12.

~ '_We can't trust Cobb's subconscious._' Ariadne thought as Cobb described to her the lifetime he had spent in limbo with Mal. The fright train, maybe even the army of violent projections were Cobb's doing. Cobb was going to bring to get them all killed. She wanted to run to Arthur. Tell him all that Cobb had told her but she held back.

Something told her that Cobb's secrets, his pain, should be respected and not subject to the rest of the Team knowing about. She knew first hand what it was like to feel like all her secrets were exposed.

She wondered what life had been like in the limbo for the couple. If it was bearable. She thought what it might be like to wander the dream state alone for 50 years. For some reason her thought flew to the Point Man. If he stayed with her in limbo, would it be alright? She felt her cheeks become warm at the idea. There was movement as Cobb and Arthur, in a ski masks, brought Fisher and Eames out with cloth sack on their heads.

It was time to go.

~ Everything sped up again. Yuseff was a frighting driver in the rain with the projections closing in around them. The van not built for a wild chase like this. Quickly, a plan was put into place as Arthur handed her a line.

'_Just stay close to him_.' She thought as volleys of ideas were fired off like gun fire before they went under again. The Architect barely able to keep up with the fast pace of it.

"Sweet dreams." Yuseff called out and sent them in.

~ It felt better in the posh hotel. Everything was slower and more comfortable. Arthur could feel the distant hum and patter of rain. It was close, but not in _this_ dream.

He realized vaguely Ariadne was sitting next to him. Following his directions to stay close to him. He tried not to think about how content that made him. Her petite little body sitting next to him. Her hair pulled away from her face in a tight bun.

His eyes were alert however, looking for the rest of the Team. He recognized Eames at the bar. Dressed up like a tacky call girl.

"There goes Mr. Charles." Arthur said nodding at Cobb striding to the bar.

The Point Man didn't like the idea of using the gambit. It was too dangerous and caused too many variables. Who knows how Fischer would react? For all they knew, the disgruntled heir might shoot himself in the head thinking he would wake up.

All of this would be for nothing.

"Who or what is Mr. Charles?" Ariadne asked as they watched Eames in his interesting disguise leave the bar. Two body guard projections were after him. Her was posture straighter then normal in the business like suit and heels. Clearly she wasn't used to dressing like this.

He explained to her the gambit and was amused by her sharp mind remembering all the little variables such a play would cause. He never grew tired her how smart she was. How he almost didn't need to explain things. Their inside joke almost feeling conspiratorial.

"We can't trust Cobb's subcontinents." She said sadly. Once the smile had left her face.  
>Arthur took a deep breath.<p>

"I know." He agreed. "I know he brought the train." The Point Man tried to look nonchalant.

She nodded.  
>"I'm sorry, I should have said something sooner." She told him feebly. "I thought I could help."<p>

"You are helping." Arthur said.

She turned to look at him in surprise. He gave her a shy smile.

"He needs you to understand what he's going though. He doesn't tell me things like he used to." He told her. "You can help him face this. Just make sure he doesn't lose himself. Mal had this power over him. Even in death, he can't let her go." He finished.

~ Ariadne felt the dream shift. She had been sitting with Arthur in the lobby. The pull of gravity pushing her into the Point Man as the dream changed.  
>"What's happening?" She asked feeling her pulse race as the projections were looking at her and Arthur. The Point Man remained calm. His voice taking on that edge as she instinctively moved closer to him.<p>

"Cobb's drawing attention to the strangeness of the dream. Which is making his subconscious look for the dreamer. For me." He said gravely. His face angry again.

She watched as the projections were looking at them. As if they were doing something obscene and gross in the public place. She looked away from them. Hoping they would stop staring.

"Quick, give me a kiss." Arthur said.

'_Good idea, a distraction._' Ariadne said. '_Maybe they would think were a couple and ignore us._'

She didn't hesitate as she allowed her lips to be found by his. His kiss was simple and his lips warm. She felt herself blush at the intimate contact.

She turned around to look at the projections. To her horror, they were still gawking at the couple.

"Their still looking at us." She said feeling her heart race.

Arthur seemed more relaxed. His posture not so ridged.

"Yeah, it was worth a shot." He said casually.

It suddenly occurred to her that he_ knew_ the projections wouldn't be deterred by that.

"We should get out of here." He said. A twinkle in his eye as she realized what he had done. She couldn't help the smile creeping over her face as she watched his long, lean body stand up. He offered her his hand as she stood with him. The pair making their way to the elevators.

~ The elevator pulled them to the fourth floor. Arthur was all business as he asked about which room was right above room 528. She tried to keep the blush from coming to her cheeks as she suddenly realized he had stooped slightly and his lips were at her temple. A gentle kiss that she found herself turning into. Allowing him the sweet gesture.

"One more." he murmured softly. The privacy of the elevator allowing him to become more relaxed.

She didn't try to fight the smile that bloomed on her face as he pulled away. His eyes looking over her with a shared amusement.

Her hand found his suddenly. The stress of the mission, he fight they had, all was forgotten for the moment in the elevator as it slowly rose to the fourth floor.

His hand felt warm and slightly calloused as it easily took hers as he brought her small fingers up to his lips and kissed them.

She suppressed a giggle as he gave her a smile.

'_When the hell did kissing him become so easy?_' She wondered suddenly. She suddenly wanted this elevator ride to never end.


	13. Chapter 13

13.

~ She loved watching him. The professional way he set the charges, his graceful leap up the dresser, sticking them to the ceiling. All the while telling her about the free fall and loss of gravity. His suit fitting him so perfectly it made her head spin at the memory of this well groomed man in the elevator with her. She wondered why she had ever been mad at him to begin with. Her mind working to remember the dream of them in bed together. The pink sheets and his lips on hers. She suddenly wanted to recall every perfect second.

It was becoming harder for her to concentrate around him.

"What if you miss the kick?" Ariadne said. Arthur's pessimistic attitude rubbing off on her.

"I'm not going to miss the kick." He assured her.

She nodded and gave him a smile. She trusted him, trusted him to bring her back from the dream.

~ Arthur's face showed his annoyance. He had stupidly missed the kick. The music had come too soon. The Team would be floating around the room in zero gravity as he was clumsily making his way around the fourth floor room. Trying to pull free the charges from the ceiling.

He wasn't sure how well his idea would work. It might fail miserably and they would not be able to ride any kind of kick. His instincts told him it would work and there was not enough time to try anything else.

'_Have to get her out. Have to get the Team out._' He thought.

Moving around without gravity was harder then he thought. His normally nimble body seemed to not work right.

It had been a hellish time since the rest of the Team went under. His promise of a "Merry Chase" had been difficult to keep. He hadn't planed on the hallway spinning, and had surprised himself by beating back projections. His instincts had kicked in and kept him on his feet and thinking fast. The projections had been more lethal then he thought and he hadn't been able to evade them, despite Ariadne's clever little traps.

'_Have to buy her roses or something._' He thought as he trapped a projection in the stair well. The new Architect had done her job well and save him several times.

Now it was his turn.

He had a frightening encounter with a projection, crouching on the ceiling like a spider. Arthur was not a violent man. Even if his position in the dream world required him to be militant and aggressive, he never got used to killing or learned to like it. Even if it was to save his life and those on the Team. Even if it was just a projection.

He kept his thoughts focused on the mission. He kept his thought focused on her.

'_Ariadne, have to get her out. Have to get them all out._' He thought as her propelled himself back to the room.

In room 528, the Team was floating carelessly from the loss of gravity. They most likely didn't feel anything in the third level. Zero G keeping their bodies relaxed and helpless. Arthur looked at his watch. He didn't have much time.

~ She wished Arthur was here. They had felt the kick and although Cobb was perfectly capable, in defending against projections, she would have felt better staying with Arthur.

She was glad she had stayed with Cobb however. Arthur was right, it was easy for the haunted Extractor to become lost to the Shade. Impossible for him to believe she wasn't real.

It all happened so fast. Fischer was on the floor, dead. Mal had shot him and Cobb shot her. The Extractor looking at the projection's body with a sense of guilt. Eames telling her there wasn't enough time.

Then, they were down in limbo. A world she could never have imagined. Buildings sheered off into the ocean like ice burgs as the ocean washed her ashore. Cobb's strong body was pulling her to her feet. The kindly widower asking her is she was alight.

How the Extractor and his wife could have built all this, she could never imagine. It was magnificent. If she lived ten life times, she could never create a world like this.

It's was a frighting shattered state,however.

'_Not even a ghost could live here._' She thought as only Cobb seemed to know where they were going. Following whatever demons were leading him onward.

~ Arthur had done all he could. His breath coming in short as he put the head phones over Eames' ears and hit the play button. He had only a few seconds to ready his own mind to ride the kick.

_'Van will hit the water soon._' He thought. 'Get her out, get them all out.'

~ Ariadne felt the jolt of electricity hit her body and making he muscles seize up.

'_The defibrillator._' she thought. '_It's almost time._'

~ Arthur tried to keep his body relaxed as he blew the elevator, the force pushing down the Team in a hard thump. He inwardly apologized to Ariadne as they all fell into free fall in the elevator. A horrific crash awaiting them.

~ "Don't lose yourself, find Saito and bring him back!" Ariadne shouted as the world started to rip apart. A horrible storm was pealing the skins off the buildings.

"I will!" Cobb called back moving closer to Mal's body, now mortally wounded. Ariadne trusted the kick as she jumped free of the balcony and fell backwards into a deep, dark place.

~ She opened here eyes to the fortress blowing up around her. The floor breaking up and rocking her like a baby in a cradle, her body falling as she rode the kick to the second level.

~ She saw the flash of an explosion and a bone jarring jolt as the elevator crashed into the basement. Her eyes opened as the van made it's frightful contact with the water.

~ Underwater, she felt Arthur's hand over hers. She was remarkably calm as she opened her eyes and her seat belt kept her in place. She could make out the Point Man as the van started to sink. She felt, rather then saw, Fischer heroically saving Browning and escape out the back of the van.

Sunlight was starting to fade away as they sank deeper. The water was cold and she felt the rise of panic as her chest tightened with the need for air.

Arthur pulled free the diver's breather. The Point Man had thought of everything and there was one for each of them. He had made sure she was awake and not in shock before he gave her the breather. His face never leaving hers as they sank perilously down into the river.

The flood of oxygen felt easy and calmed back down at seeing him.

He gave her the "okay" sign as she maneuvered out of the sinking van.

She looked back to see Arthur trying to rouse Cobb to no avail. Saito was in the back, his eyes open in the eerie shell of the sinking van.

Hopefully, not lost forever.


	14. Chapter 14

14.

~ What was left of the Team made their way back to the safe house. Arthur and Eames artfully hijacking another cab so they would not have to walk back in the rain.

"Won't Fischer's projection's know to look for us here?" Ariadne asked as they arrived at the warehouse they had just left.

"No, Fischer doesn't feel threatened anymore. He thinks that he's safe now and his projections won't see us." Arthur explained. The Point Man's mood forever grumpy on a mission.  
>"Besides, we were always meant to hold up here." Eames said with a laugh.<p>

~ It felt strange to be back at the safe house without Saito or Cobb. Eames shrugged off his wet blazer as Arthur set up some space heaters to dry them off.

As the rain fell outside, an ominous feeling fell over them.

"With this weather, I doubt we'll be here more then a day at least." Eames said pouring water out of his shoes. "It's too dangerous to try and leave the safe house now. The rain is too heavy and we might have an accident.

Yuseff explained that the compound was not _guaranteed_ to last a week. Only that he thought it _might_ last a week.

"It's a good thing we took Fischer under when we did." Eames huffed. "Waited any longer and all of this will be for nothing."

"Well, let's just hope it was successful." Arthur said. "I'd hate to think we did all this for nothing."

The Point Man was taking off his own jacket as the group of four tried to warm themselves by the blazing warmth of the heaters.

They spoke very little as the impressive rain beat a heavy, relentless march over their heads. Their animal instinct telling them to stay close together, and close to a heat source. The safe house was large and empty. It felt almost spooky to be here with the storm raging outside.

The Architect could feel little tremors in the floor that told her the dream would soon collapse.

Ariadne felt better after a few hours. Her clothes were still damp and smelled of the river, but she was drying out. She pulled her knees closer to her body as she looked at Arthur. The Point Man lost in thought and not speaking.

"Cobb's going to be alright." She whispered. The memory of their kiss in the elevator making her feel affectionate to him.  
>Arthur nodded and said nothing. The lack of privacy with Eames and Yuseff so close, made any other gesture between them impossible. That fox like grin of the Forger would have come out and mocked the both of them.<p>

~ There was no chance for Arthur and Ariadne to talk privately in the safe house. No one wanted to leave the safety of the heat and each other. Ariadne almost dozed off when she felt the sharp ground tremor.

'_Dream is collapsing_.' She thought as the widows around them broke and the sound of metal bending as the safe house seemed to warp.

Ariadne took a deep breath as she realized the Yuseff was gone. He had already woken up and they didn't have much longer till they would wake up as well.

~ As the safe house fell on top of them, Ariadne felt her self rip away from sleep and open her eyes to the real world. She was on a plane. She could hear the engines roaring as the attendant was asking her if she needed anything. They would be landing soon.

She felt fuzzy and sleepy, as if she had come out of a normal bout of sleep. Her body slouched down in her seat.

She looked across from her. Fischer was awake. The young heir lost in his own thoughts. She could hear Arthur moving behind her and saw Eames was awake as well. Yuseff was coming back from the bathroom.

That was when she spotted Cobb. The attendant had moved suddenly and revealed the Extractor. He was awake and looking around him in shock. She gave him a small smile.

She knew he would make it out.

~ The plan once they landed was simple, get past customs and skater. Ariadne held herself up as she waited for Cobb to pass through. A contented smile playing over her face as the customs agent barely gave his computer screen a glance.

"Welcome home, Mr. Cobb." The pleasant looking guard said. Cobb nodded his head and proudly left the airport.

She expected Arthur to find her. Perhaps take her out to dinner. Maybe Eames would hunt her down like she _was_ dinner. But none of the team even spared her a glance. Playing the roles of strangers on a plane perfectly.

~ Arthur watched the Architect leave the airport. He wanted desperately to go to her. Take her home with him and make love in state other then dreams. But things were too complicated between them. Why was it so much easier in the dreams and not in the real world?


	15. Chapter 15

**One month later...**

~ Ariadne was back in Paris. Her classes felt boring now. Nothing challenged her mind the way the dream world had. She longed to be back there. In that land where creation and destruction can exist so close together.

At night, she would dream. Simple, silly things about Cobb and the rest of the Team. She knew it was because she was always thinking of them. Of all Arthur had done to get them out. How they had called a truce between them when the mission went so wrong. She also dreamed nightmares. Ones where she was helpless and Arthur could do nothing to save her.

In those dreams, it always felt like that was reality. It was only when she woke up that she could convince herself it wasn't real.

She inexplicably had an account in Switzerland with her name on it. A carrier arrived a few days after she was back in Paris with an envelope full of information about her payment. Saito had been generous. Even enclosing a gold card for his privet airline that would take her anywhere she wanted, as often as she wanted. She could literally spend the rest of her life up in the air if she wanted to.

It dully registered with her that she didn't have to worry about money anymore. She had enough now to finish school with ease, and buy an apartment here in the city. She was a little afraid to spend the money. She wasn't sure how do so without people wondering how she got it.

Arthur didn't call. Nor did Cobb or any member of the Team. She knew that was for the best. To distance themselves from each other. Still, she missed them. These elegant, chivalrous men who made her feel so valuable. Or, may she was just missing one man in particular.

~ Then, like a great plague, roses began to arrive at her small apartment. At first, the large bloom of day breaker roses was welcomed. Their colorful hue of pink and yellow was bright and cheery to her abode. They arrived with no note or sign as to who sent them. Ariadne wanted to believe they were from Arthur but for all she knew, they were from Eames.

Twice a day they came. Her small apartment could not hold them and soon enough, her world looked like something from "The Secret Garden". She had no room to put them and they crowded over her kitchen counter and book shelves.

A knock on her door came as she was placing the latest delivery in her kitchen sink, she would have to put them on the floor next.

"Listen!" She called out in sheer frustration. "If your the florist, take them back!" She brushed back her hair as she felt over whelmed by the bright contrasting red roses, white roses, yellow roses and tea roses. Her small space fragrant with the blooms.

The knock came back and she sighed.

"Look-" She said fully expecting to see the delivery boy and was surprised to see Arthur.

"I see you got my flowers." He said in surprise. "Didn't think they would be so..." He said with a scowl at seeing the multitude of flowers crowding her counter and fighting for space.

"Yeah?" Ariadne said hotly. "Well this is Paris. You tell a flower shop in Paris to send a girl roses and they send her every rose they can."

She tried to be angry but there was laughter behind her eyes.

"May I come in?" He asked. And she grinned and nodded him inside.

"Thank you." Ariadne said as she looked wearily over the flowers. "For the roses."  
>"I'm glad you like them." Arthur whispered.<p>

"May I ask why you sent them?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"Well, when we were in the dream, your maze... it saved me. I told myself I need to thank you properly." He offered.

"Well, their lovely." She said with a smile.

An agonizing few seconds passed between them as they looked at the flowers. Ariadne shifting on her heels.

"I also need to apologize, for extracting information on you." He said finally. Not looking at her.

She only nodded.  
>"How much information did you get? I mean, how much do you know about me?" She asked worriedly.<p>

"Just what's public information. I know about your parents. That you were in foster homes. That you won a scholarship." He told her truthfully.

"Yeah but you were in my dreams." She said "What else did you learn from them?"

"If your worried I invaded your memories, don't be." He said somberly "That's not how the dream works. I only used the dream to find out if you could be trusted. Not to find out your darkest secrets."

"And other things." She said remembering the pink sheets and their bodies, beautiful together.

"And other things." Arthur repeated, thinking the same thing.


	16. Chapter 16

16.

~ Ariadne slipped her feet into a pair of uncomfortable dress shoes. Suddenly remembering how they pinched. The dress she pulled on hugged her body closely and she looked back at her reflection with a contented little smile.

Arthur had asked her if she wanted to go out. Dinner maybe, or perhaps a movie. An old fashioned date. She only nodded and whispered that she needed to change. She had torn the tags off the lacy panties she bought when she first started working with the Point Man. She had bought them at a fancy shop in the city. She wasn't sure why. It's not like someone was going to see them on her. But she bought them while thinking of Arthur and she liked the feel of the lace that barely covered anything.

The knowledge that he was in her small home, waiting for her, was almost suffocating. It made her breathing pick up and her her cheeks flush. Her apartment was so tiny she had to change in the bathroom. The Point Man waiting in her bedroom that doubled as her living room.

'_Arthur's out there._' She thought as she applied a sheer level of make up and brushed out her hair. '_Arthur's out there, and my shoe's are too small._'

She sighed and finally left her tiny bathroom. She didn't feel like going out, it looked like it would rain later. She hated the rain.

The Point Man was standing before her bookcase looking at her book collection. He had shed his jacket and looked perfectly comfortable in her apartment swarmed with roses. His dress shirt rolled up at the sleeves and showing a fine display of lean muscle on his arm. He looked like he didn't intend to go out either. He looked too content to stay here with her and the roses.

When he turned to see her, his eyes lit up.

"You look nice." he whispered.

She stood awkwardly in her bare feet. Suddenly aware she forgot to put on stockings.

"My shoes hurt my feet." She said lamely as he approached her. Blocking her way into her bedroom.

Her eyes instantly became locked with his and she felt herself rising up on tip toe. All to be closer to his eye level. She could feel he was breathing hard as his body made contact with hers. His large, warm hands grazing up her bare arm. His fingers tripping a strap and causing it to fall off her shoulder.

As if by magnetic force, something they couldn't fight, their lips were pulled together. The heavenly union sent a rewarding rush of joy to her body. It was something they couldn't stop as he pulled her into him.

She could smell that clean masculine cologne of his. His own natural pheromones as her senses were able to pick up more about him. How warm his body was. The clean shave of his face. How strong, yet gentle his hands were. His body was hard, yet something she could fall into comfortably.

Her hand moved up ward to capture the back of his neck as she felt his hands wandering. Their lips locked in an endless kiss that they could happily maintain forever.

~ In her little bed she snuggled next to the Point Man. His body was hard and lean, but comforting. His hands, knowledgeable about how to please her.

She let out a contented sigh as she looked at the roses surrounding the new lovers. Like her little home had decided to bloom into a rose garden. It was beautiful and strange all at once.

The rain had long ago started to pour down. Making going out impossible. They were in bed long before the storm started. Their bodies warm under and happy. She felt his lips graze her forehead and pull her closer to him as thunder rumbled overhead.

"Glad we didn't make it out." He whispered as she hummed a happy cat like purr. Making love with him had been perfect. Sweet and slow. The tension that had been passing between them was relived and she finally felt relaxed and happy. Like she could sleep for a thousand years, surrounded by roses.

"I like your panties by the way." Arthur said nodding as the lacy undergarments that had been cast off her body in such a hurried frenzy of lovemaking, they landed on one of the bouquet of roses.

She found that very funny. That particular vase of flowers was across the room. She laughed as he roll her under his body and his lips claimed hers.

~ End ~

**I'm sorry there was no erotica on this one. It didn't want to become that. Besides, I need a few PG rated stories. I promise I'll post more erotica very soon. **


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